Each year, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) solicits grant applications through a community-based process to address the needs of those experiencing homelessness. This process, known as the Continuum of Care Program (CoC), facilitates grants designed to address the problems of homelessness in a comprehensive manner with other federal agencies.

The HUD CoC Program is designed to:

Promote a community-based solution to ending homelessness;
Provide funding to nonprofits, States, and local governments to prevent and quickly re-house individual and families experiencing homelessness;
Minimize the trauma and dislocation that individuals, families, and communities experience as a result of homelessness; and
Promote the effective utilization of mainstream resources.

The CoC organization in the Upstate of South Carolina is the Upstate Continuum of Care (UCoC) which includes the following counties: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, Saluda, Spartanburg and Union. These counties make up four chapters within the CoC- CUS Chapter (includes Cherokee, Union and Spartanburg), Tri-County Chapter (Anderson, Pickens and Oconee), Greenville Chapter and GAMES Chapter (Greenwood, Abbeville, McCormick, Edgefield and Saluda). United Housing Connections is the lead agency for Upstate CoC and manages the annual grant application process in the CoC Program Competition.

HUD announces the beginning of the CoC Program Competition by publishing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The NOFO provides detailed information about the application process including deadlines, eligible applicants, activities and costs. Anyone interested in applying for HUD funding should become familiar with the federal legislation governing CoC funding, Program Interim Rule Part 578 Continuum of Care Program as well as the NOFO.